Suspected Pirates

Pirates deprived of mothership dhow, crew freed, by Spanish warship
The EU Naval Force Flagship ESPS Patino located a Yemeni registered dhow that was suspected of being involved in acts of piracy off the Somali coast.
The previous day a merchant vessel had reported that it had evaded an attack by two skiffs. As she was close by, ESPS Patino was tasked to investigate the scene, and when her helicopter arrived, it located a capsized skiff, with suspected pirates embarking onto the Yemini dhow.
The dhow was confirmed as a suspected mother ship, previously observed at a pirate anchorage. Authorisation was given for a team from Patino to board the dhow. The 16 suspected pirates quickly surrendered to the EU Naval Forces and the 2 dhow crew members were freed.
After coordinating with Yemeni authorities, the dhow and the two crewmembers were safely handed over to Yemeni Coast Guard near Yemeni territorial waters in the vicinity of Socotra Island.
The suspect pirates, who no longer had the means to carry out attacks, were returned back to the shore.

In the evening of December 6, approximately 250 nautical miles North West of Victoria Seychelles a pirate attack group was neutralized by EU NAVFOR and the Seychellois Coast Guard.
On December 5th an EU NAVFOR Maritime Patrol Aircraft, stationed at the Seychelles, located a suspected pirate attack group with one mother skiff and two attack skiffs. EU NAVFOR French warship FS Floreal was tasked to close the group and the Seychellois Coast Guard also responded to the request by sending their

Early on the morning of 28 March, the Seychellois flagged fishing vessel reported that a whaler and a skiff had approached her in a suspicious manner with automatic weapons and a Rocket Propelled Grenade(RPG) clearly visible. The EUNAVFOR warship immediately made her way to the scene and launched her SH-60B helicopter to investigate further.
After two attempts by the Whaler to flee the scene, the helicopter was forced to fire warning shots in front of the vessel to make it stop

EU Naval Force Warship BNS Louise Marie Once Again Apprehends Suspect Pirates at Sea.
Just 12 days after EU Naval Force warship BNS Louise Marie apprehended five suspect pirates at sea off the Somali Coast, the Belgium frigate has once again located a suspect skiff - this time with three men on board.
The warship, which is operating as part of the European Union’s counter-piracy mission - Operation Atalanta

In a show of international sea power in the Gulf of Aden, seven nations representing three task forces coordinated efforts to pursue a skiff after the pirates on board opened fire on a German oiler, the Federal German Ship (FGS) Spessart, March 29.
At approximately 3 p.m. local, FGS Spessart, reported they were being attacked by pirates who may have mistaken the naval supply ship for a commercial merchant vessel. An embarked security team aboard the ship returned fire on the suspected

Dutch EU Naval Force Frigate 'De Ruyter' apprehends 9 suspected pirates off the coast of Somalia.
A Panama-flagged merchant ship reported the presence of the pirate group and soon after the warship's helicopter located the two skiffs, whose occupants threw material overboard, and split up in an attempt to escape. The first skiff was stopped by assets of the Dutch frigate. The second skiff was located and stopped with support of the helicopter from the EU Naval Force flagship ESPS Mendez Nunez

On January 18, 2014, the French EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta flagship FS Siroco in cooperation with Japanese assets released the crew of a Dhow that was suspected to have been used as pirate mother-ship. The flagship apprehended five suspected pirates believed to be responsible for an attack on an oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden a day earlier.
The oil tanker issued a distress call to the UK Maritime Trade Operation (UKMTO) on the evening of Friday, January 17

EU Naval Force Belgian Frigate 'BNS Louise-Marie' apprehends five suspected pirates off Somali coast.
Directed to the scene by ship's helicopter, BNS Louise-Marie issued verbal warnings to the skiff whose crew quickly raised their hands. The boarding party was deployed to apprehend the five suspected pirates on board the skiff, which was equipped with a ladder and a boarding hook, and it eventually taken on board the frigate.

On October 2, 2013, eleven pirates were convicted in the Seychelles Supreme Court of committing acts of piracy and operating a pirate vessel from May 7-11, 2012. Their sentences ranged from 18 months to 16 years.
The pirates had been apprehended by the Royal Netherlands Navy frigate, HNLMS Van Amstel, on May 11, 2012, after the warship’s Lynx helicopter sighted a suspicious fishing dhow towing two skiffs, 400 nautical miles off the Somali coast.

The Operation Commander of the EU Naval Force, Rear Admiral Bob Tarrant, has issued a renewed warning that Somali pirates are still determined to get out to sea and, if presented with an easy target, will attack.
“I am very concerned that seafarers and nations will lower their guard and support for counter piracy operations in the belief that the piracy threat is over. It is not; it is merely contained," he said

On Thursday 8 January, a counter-piracy exercise was carried out jointly by the Seychelles Coast Guard, Air Force and Police together with the EU Naval Force Somalia – Operation Atalanta-, and the EU’s civilian maritime security capacity building Mission, EUCAP Nestor.

Denmark has compensated nine Somalis suspected of trying to hijack a Danish ship in 2013 because they were detained too long before being brought before a judge, the public prosecutor's office said on Monday.
Each defendant received $3,247 for the 13 days they were detained

The International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has revealed that piracy on the world’s seas is at its lowest first-quarter level since 2007, but warns that the threat is still present.
The latest IMB Piracy Report, published today

Catherine Ashton, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, hosted a meeting on Tuesday in Brussels at the European External Action Service, with a number of African countries, to examine maritime threats to Africa and to discuss areas

The latest US Maritime OPINTEL analysis and weekly report that follows covers the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Guinea.
Horn of Africa Area
OMAN: On 6 March, three suspicious white skiffs approached a merchant vessel near position 22:27.1 N – 060:29

Suspect Pirates Apprehended by EU Naval Force Flagship Transferred To The Seychelles.
On 29 January 2014, international collaboration in the fight against piracy resulted in the transfer of five men by the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta flagship, FS Siroco

On Friday 10 January, the Seychelles Coast Guard, Air Force and Police Force, together with the EU Naval Force Somalia - Operation Atalanta and EUCAP Nestor, carried out a counter-­piracy exercise in the Seychelles. The exercise involved the boarding of a suspected pirate skiff that had

On Sunday, November 10, 2013, NATO’s counter-piracy Operation Ocean Shield warship HDMS Esbern Snare boarded two small craft and detained nine suspected pirates, following an attack in the area the previous day.
On Saturday, the Danish flagged vessel Torm Kansas reported she was attacked

Just a few weeks after the Operation Commander of the EU Naval Force, Rear Admiral Bob Tarrant, issued another warning about the on-going piracy threat, there have been two more piracy related incidents off the Somali coast.
The first incident involved EU Naval Force German frigate

Royal Australian Navy ship, HMAS Melbourne, has intercepted alleged pirates off the coast of Somalia as part of maritime security patrols in Middle Eastern waters for Operation SLIPPER.
The suspected pirates were intercepted on October 15

11 pirates have been convicted in the Seychelles Supreme Court of committing acts of piracy and operating a pirate vessel between 7 – 11 May 2012. Their sentences ranged from 18 months to 16 years.
The pirates had been apprehended by the Royal Netherlands Navy frigate

As the monsoon in the NW Indian Ocean begins to subside and the weather once again becomes conducive to the operation of small pirate skiffs, the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has urged Masters not to be complacent as they transit the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden.